Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 702 Shooting starts

The financial details of "Lost in Hong Kong" are publicly available...

Two days ago, 21 Holdings issued a statement: it purchased 47.5% of the net box office revenue of the upcoming film "Lost in Hong Kong" from BJ Zhenledao for 1.5 million yuan…

Using the valuation of "Lost in Hong Kong" as financial leverage for future box office net income, Xu Zheng sold his share of the box office to a Hong Kong-listed company before the film's release, acquiring a 21% controlling stake. He not only made a cash profit of 1.5 million yuan but also became the company's second-largest shareholder, holding 19% of the shares.

In other words, Xu Zheng had already earned 1.5 million yuan before the release of "Lost in Hong Kong", and continued to enjoy box office dividends as a shareholder of a listed company!

Why do this?

If "Lost in Hong Kong" accounts for 47.5% of the box office and generates a net revenue of 1.5 million for Softstar Entertainment, wouldn't True Music be at a loss?

In essence, it's about increasing personal wealth on paper by leveraging the price-to-earnings ratio of listed companies.

Simply put, the portion of box office revenue lost by True Joy Road was compensated by the increase in the market value of the listed companies in which it holds shares.

Zhenledao is also Xu Zheng's company!

There are three advantages to doing this.

First, Zhenledao Company obtained a large amount of cash flow in the short term;

Secondly, the huge success of "Lost in Hong Kong" boosted the share price of 21 Holdings, resulting in some hidden appreciation of the stock.
Thirdly, 21 Holdings will shift its main business to entertainment and media-related fields and change its name to Huanxi Media. "Lost in Hong Kong" is the perfect first hit.

In the original timeline, he also accomplished this feat—after the release of "Lost in Hong Kong," Huanxi Media's market value surged by over 925%, closing at HK$3.7, while Xu Zheng bought in at only HK$0.4. By this calculation, Xu Zheng earned over HK$18 billion from Huanxi Media's equity!

They've already risen to the ranks of the capitalists!
Shen Yan continued the live stream: "I'm not very familiar with Xu Zheng...we don't have much interaction..."

"When I'm not busy, I like to travel or watch movies... I don't really like socializing, like drinking parties or dinners; I usually decline them if I can..."

"There are definitely private gatherings, but I rarely speak during those meals..."

"You absolutely must not buy any movie investment shares... There's no way any investment share will be transferred out of the movies I'm involved in!"

"The day before yesterday, I saw a self-media article that said, 'A man invested 70 yuan in 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back' and made a net profit of 300 million yuan...' That's all nonsense. The production cost of 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back' was 8600 million yuan, and our company contributed 6000 million yuan... Not a single share of our investment was lost... If there are any articles like this, I will report them immediately!"

"Individuals can invest in movies, but movie investment is a high-risk activity. If you have a few hundred million yuan and don't mind throwing money around, you can invest a few million to try it out..."

"First of all, don't even look at anyone who promises returns or guarantees your principal. 80% of Chinese movies lose money. Even big-budget movies by top directors and stars often flop. If anyone promises you returns, just block them."

"A friend of mine sent me a message..."

Shen Yan opened his phone; it displayed an investment message about John Woo's new film, "Manhunt".

The post reads, "I predict the box office will reach 20 billion!"

Shen Yan also replied, "If you really want to learn how to invest in movies, it's best to split your money into several smaller portions, investing a little in each to get a feel for it. Don't blindly invest in big-name directors or big-budget productions, because the shares you acquire will have already changed hands several times, resulting in a very high premium. Of course, this field is so complex that it's best to avoid investing altogether if possible."

Then Shen Yan's friend replied, 'OK! I understand!'

Shen Yan put his phone away: "Do you guys think it's possible? 20 billion in box office revenue?" "Nowadays, movies are like capital financing. The initial investment, the seed round, the angel round, this part of the funds is usually paid out of the producer's own pocket. After all, if even the producer doesn't have confidence in his own movie, then no one else will play with him."

Then comes financing, when social funds begin to flow in, and this stage raises funds to cover the film's production costs.
Once the production costs have been raised and the screening dates have been agreed upon with theaters, the next step is to raise funds through film copyright transfer. Currently, most film investment promotions on the market are at this stage.

Several platforms have recently appeared on the market claiming to invest in popular, already-released movies and offer daily box office dividends. In reality, these are just Ponzi schemes using the movie name as a front; they have absolutely nothing to do with the films. Many people in the P2P industry are using the movie hype to make these schemes seem more sophisticated and entice people into their traps—they are scammers!
Financing during the marketing and distribution phase is essentially a gamble on box office performance.

"In short, film investment is very risky. Generally, excellent film projects are already internally funded... When I was making 'The Martian,' with a budget of 4.5 million, I never even considered crowdfunding... In short, one sentence: investing in movies is not as good as buying gold... at least gold is tangible and visible..."

"It's even less likely that I'll lose my investment share in the film 'Detective Chinatown,' which I'm currently shooting... This movie cost 8000 million, and there are as many as 15 investment companies... Even a 2% investment share is being fought over!"

This is the truth...

After all, "Detective Chinatown" is a major film for the Spring Festival season, with four main investors: Xinghuo, China Film Group, Wanda, and Maoyan. There's also Chen Sicheng's Yitong Productions and Wang Baoqiang's Baoyirong Film & Media...

Besides these, there are a bunch of cinema-related companies, such as Dadi Cinemas, Hengdian Cinemas, Times Cinemas, Shanghai United Cinemas, and BJ New Film Union…

During the Spring Festival film season, its competitor is still "The Mermaid"...

You definitely have to give up some revenue; otherwise, why would cinemas schedule screenings for you?
……

Most of the actors in the "Detective Chinatown" crew have worked with Shen Yan.

However, there are exceptions. Wang Baoqiang, Tong Yali, Xiao Yang, and even Xiao Shenyang have not had any contact with Shen Yan!

However, there are rumors circulating in the industry about Shen Yan's personality and such.

Ordinary people think this person is capable, professional, and honest, doesn't stick to any cliques, but is not easy to approach!
His talent is undeniable—an actor who didn't receive formal training won the Venice Film Festival's Best Actor award, the Golden Lion, and the Best Director award, and even won the Golden Lion twice…

They definitely have the ability!
There's a general consensus that they're not easy to approach!
He has not joined the Directors Guild yet, nor does he participate in the Golden Rooster or Hundred Flowers Awards…

He doesn't even participate in the Golden Horse Awards!

It's because he doesn't align himself with the so-called mainstream...

When asked, he would say, "I'm just someone who makes commercial films and earns money; I'm not qualified to be compared to a bunch of veterans," and "I look down on the Golden Horse Awards!"

By the way, regarding the Golden Horse Awards—last year, "Burning" wasn't submitted for the Golden Horse Awards…

This sparked considerable controversy, with many saying, "Shen Yan is arrogant and ignorant. So what if he won the Golden Lion? Ang Lee won it twice!" and "The Golden Horse Awards are the most professional film awards in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong!"

Shen Yan replied, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! The Golden Horse Awards are awesome (voice cracks), so I'm not participating! I'm not an awesome person..."

One sentence broke many Golden Horse Awards' defenses: "Let him be strong, the breeze still caresses the mountain; let him be arrogant, the bright moon still shines on the great river!"

This person gives off the impression that they are difficult to get along with!
　Tomorrow at four o'clock...

　　There is another chapter today

　　
　
(End of this chapter)